


Ghoster

by BuckyAndDanno



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, CIA, Danny Doesn't Survive, Episode: s10e22 Aloha (Goodbye), Grief, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Or So Steve Is Told, Witness Protection, at first anyway, former cia danny, mcdanno, not major character death, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:16:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndDanno/pseuds/BuckyAndDanno
Summary: Post 10x22. Danny doesn’t survive being kidnapped by Daiyu Mei… or so Steve is told.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 12
Kudos: 67





	Ghoster

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely people! I recently got the Hawaii Five-0 box set for my birthday and am thoroughly enjoying binge watching it all, and so I’ve been inundated with plot bunnies about my favourite Jersey Detective. Enjoy!
> 
> I don’t own Hawaii Five-0.

There’s too much blood, and Danny’s barely conscious by the time Steve finds him. His partner is lying on the floor, eyes closed, with a bullet hole in his chest. Barely perceptible groans escape his lips, even as Steve presses down on the wound.

“I got you buddy.”

Blood bubbles through his fingers, icy claws gripping Steve’s heart as Tani and Lou rush in with a med pack.

Tani takes over putting pressure on the wound as Steve gathers Danny up in his arms, moving him to the waiting SUV. She sits beside him in the back, opening up pressure packs for Steve to use. Lou drives, sirens wailing as they screech away from the abandoned property. Danny’s completely limp in Steve’s arms, and the ex-Navy SEAL has never seen his partner so quiet.

Danny had once said that nothing scared Steve but this… this frightened Steve to the bone.

It was like Danny was already gone.

But Steve wouldn’t let that happen.

His brother, his partner, was not dying on him.

Not today.

Not ever.

“Stay with me Danno.” Steve murmurs, brushing a few strands of hair from Danny’s forehead. His partner’s too warm, face covered in a sheen of sweat, and Steve wonders if his wounds are already infected. Mei had taken Danny hours ago; who knew how long he’d been chained up and bleeding, before he’d managed to escape? Who knew how long it had been since he was shot?

Danny simply moans deliriously in his lap, and Steve’s panic only flares louder and brighter.

They arrive at Tripler in record time. Steve manages to relay all the essential information to the doctors and then Danny’s being rushed into surgery. Steve’s legs give way beneath him and he slides to the floor, head in his hands.

Danny had been barely breathing, already too pale for words, and Steve doesn’t know what he’ll do if they can’t save him.

He hopes to god they can save him.

He ends up in the church.

Steve isn’t sure how long he sits there for, but in ten years of being Danny’s partner, he has never feared for his friend’s life like this.

Sure there was the Sarin poisoning, but they were still new friends then – they didn’t have the history they do now.

There was the building explosion, but he was certain in his abilities to get them out.

There was Danny being shot in hospital, but they were IN A HOSPITAL.

This… Steve has never felt more helpless in his entire life.

He’s also never felt more guilty, at least, not since his father died.

_‘I have the person you care about most in the world.’_

This was all his fault. Daiyu Mei was after him, after the cipher, and she’d used Danny because Steve cared about him more than anyone else in the world.

If Danny didn’t make it…

Steve shook his head. He couldn’t think that way.

Lifting red rimmed eyes up to the altar, he ground out the closest thing he could to a prayer. “You wanna take somebody. Take me. Not him. You take me.”

Danny had always called him a danger magnet, had always said that Steve ran into danger without thinking, and now look where it had gotten them. It should have been him… not Danny…

Danny had Grace and Charlie.

Danny had too much to lose.

Steve… Steve had Danny. He needed Danny.

He loved Danny.

The thought hits him like a punch to the stomach, knocking the wind straight out of him. He doesn’t quite understand how it’s taken until now – taken this – for him to realise.

He loves Danny.

He can’t live without him.

His eyes are leaking tears, unbidden, when the chapel door opens, and Lincoln slides in behind him.

“No news. He’s still in surgery.”

Steve scrubs a hand over his face, trying to recompose himself before he turns to look at the other man.

“Look Steve… You need to be here.” Lincoln says, like he knows exactly what Steve’s just realised. “All I’m asking is your permission to hunt Daiyu Mei down. My buddy cracked the code for us. It’s coordinates, so we know where she’s heading.” He holds out a piece of paper.

Steve squints to make it out, but then realisation hits him once more. “That’s my mother’s crypt.” He doesn’t know what Mei’s after, but the fact that everything is coming down to his mother is just too much to bear. She’d already taken so much from him… “Go.”

A part of him wants to see this through but… he needs to be by Danny’s side. Nothing else matters.

Lincoln’s off like a shot.

Steve sighs heavily, and makes his way back to the waiting room.

It’s an hour before Lincoln calls, and it’s not with good news.

Steve’s sat in the waiting room, hands clasped in Tani’s. They’re both silent in their worry and hope, but the death grip they have on each other lends its own form of support.

They’ve seen too many doctors and other personnel walk in and out without even sparing them a glance, and Steve’s about at wits end. If someone doesn’t give him any information on Danny soon, he feels likely to explode.

The sudden blare of his phone does nothing to alleviate his stress.

“Lincoln, what have you got?”

There’s a deft pause, and Steve’s heart sinks.

“She’s gone, man.” Lincoln says, and Steve can hear the anger in his voice. “Mei’s gone.”

“What?” Steve feels cold again. They have no idea now what Mei is up to. When Danny pulls through – he doesn’t dare think _if_ – who knows if he’ll even be safe? Who knows if any of them will be?

Steve’s hands clench into fists, and it takes all of his willpower not to demand what Lincoln knows and go running off after Mei with the vendetta she’s now saddled him with.

“She took everything from your mom’s crypt – about five million – and took a private jet out of the islands.”

Steve swears.

“I’ve alerted all air traffic control and international agencies, but… I’m not certain we’re going to find her.”

Steve swallows back his anger and frustration. “Okay, just… get back here. Danny needs us.”

In the back halls of the hospital, Danny Williams is brought out of surgery, stable though still critical. The surgeon who worked on him is confident of a full recovery, though it will take time.

Time is not something that Agent Malone has in abundance. The tall, shaggy haired CIA agent watches as they settle Williams into a recovery room. The Detective is still unconscious, face swollen and bruised, with stark white bandages peeking out above the gown they’ve settled him into.

His hand grips the phone at his ear tightly. “So she’s gone?”

The response is imperceptible, but Malone sighs. “Then Williams is still a target.”

A moment later, he nods. “Understood. I’ll keep him safe.”

Ending the call, Malone steps over to Danny’s side, squeezing the unconscious Detective’s hand. “I promise, Danny.”

Steve’s feet are jumping off the floor, fingers busy in a rhythmic staccato on the chair arm, by the time a doctor comes out to see them.

The woman’s face is imperceptible, stoic, betraying no hint of what she might say. It makes Steve incredibly nervous.

“Doc.” He jumps to his feet. “How’s… How’s Danny?”

“Detective Williams suffered major internal trauma as a result of both captivity and the bullet wound.” There’s a flash of regret in her eyes, for just a moment, and then she’s reaching out for Steve’s arm. “We did all we could.”

Steve jerks from her touch, stumbling back as the weight of her words sink in. “No… No, no, no…”

“I’m sorry Commander. Detective Williams went into cardiac arrest during surgery, and we were unable to revive him.” Her eyes are suddenly soulful and sad, staring at Steve with pity.

Steve tears his gaze away, stumbling back to the wall and sliding down to the floor. He buries his head in his hands, unable to believe what he’s hearing, and cries.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

At that moment, on the other side of the hospital, Danny Williams is wheeled into a private ambulance, and driven away.


End file.
